Karnataka minister DK Shivakumar on Sunday alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was indulging in horse-trading and had taken three Congress lawmakers to a Mumbai hotel. Shivakumar said it was the BJP’s “Operation Lotus” meant to throw the Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress government out of power in the state.
“Three of our MLAs are in Mumbai in a hotel with some BJP MLAs and leaders. We are aware of what has transpired there and how much has been offered to them,” the Congress leader has said.
The BJP has denied the allegations amidst several Congress MLAs claiming that they too were made offers to join the party. The term “Operation Lotus” is used by the Congress to refer to the BJP’s alleged attempts to lure opposition lawmakers during 2008 in Karnataka during the tenure of the erstwhile BS Yeddyurappa government.
Shivakumar claimed that chief minister HD Kumaraswamy was being “lenient” towards the BJP. By “lenient”, he said he meant the CM “was not exposing the facts he knows”. He added that all the MLAs had conveyed to Kumaraswamy as well as to Congress leader and former CM Siddaramaiah about the ongoing conspiracies. “If I was in his place, I would have exposed it within 24 hours,” he said.
Shivakumar also said that Congress state president Dinesh Gundu Rao had informed the income tax department and the anti-corruption bureau about the matter, and that the BJP would not succeed in its attempts.
